As Kyra and Tonks enter the Burrow, Ginny bounds down the stairs dressed in a warm coat. "Are we going now?"

"Not quite dear." Molly cautions before taking Ceirdwyn outside.

Molly pointedly asks Ceirdwyn "What is this thing and will Ginny be safe?"

Ceirdwyn nods in defeat. "You, Tonks, Ginny… are all safe. I don't want to spoil the surprise…" Molly stares silently waiting. "It is a gathering of people, mortals, women, who belong to a religion which, among other things, honors witches."

"What will happen?"

"You'll be introduced…to the Elders. They will want you to do something to show them what you are because they don't know you."

"We aren't allowed to do magic in front of muggles."

"These muggles already know about witches."

Molly nods, weighing the violation against what may be learned. She's unsure about how the Ministry will view it.

"You haven't mentioned wizards…?"

"They are a matriarchy. They don't relate to wizards because they played no role in ruling the tribes. They don't dislike them; they just see them as…outsiders along with the rest of the men. They would go off to hunt the aurochs and boar. The women gathered food and water nearer to the village and raised the children. If any of the men got out of line while in the village, the witches straightened him out."

"These are Druids? Are they your people?"

"No. Alex and I…and the Druids came much later…when people planted crops and raised animals. Men controlled tribes in most cases at that point. They raised stone monuments so they could track time and know when to plant."

"So, if they allow us to stay…?"

"You will be introduced, watch the ceremony, and be…honored."

"Honored?" Molly asks and Ceirdwyn nods. "What does that mean?"

"Praised for being what you are."

"But we haven't done anything."

"Your predecessors did for their predecessors and they want to recognize that connection."

"What magical thing am I going to need to do?"

"How should I know. Just don't do something like pull a rabbit out of a hat or saw a woman in half."

"Saw a woman in half?! Why would you say something like that?"

"It is a trick muggle magicians often do."

"They cut women in half? They kill them?"

"The women get put back together." Ceirdwyn says with a slight grin and head bob.

"Muggles can do that?"

"No, it is a trick…an illusion. The woman isn't cut at all."

"Deceptive these muggles." Molly mutters.

They go back inside. There is a tapping at the window and Arthur lets Errol in. There is a note addressed to Arthur. It reads "Arthur, Tonks is still missing. Fear for her safety. Fear for you and yours. Respond if you can. Moody"

Arthur reads the letter out loud.

Tonks motions that she wants the note. She writes "Moody, Am fine. Met new Old friends. Will return in a day or two. Tonks" Arthur adds "Moody, Family fine. I'm fine. See you Monday. Arthur" An exhausted Errol is sent on his way.

While the others are tending to their correspondence, Ceirdwyn picks up a Styrofoam cup from the morning's road trip and, holding it in her two hands, secretly punctures the back of it with her thumb leaving it impaled. "Ginny… We can do magic too. But we must concentrate very hard." Holding the cup at her chest height, which is slightly above Ginny's eyelevel, Ceirdwyn makes a show of concentrating and carefully moves her fingers away from the cup leaving apparently hovering between her hands.

Ginny grins from ear to ear in wonder. Molly, Arthur, and Tonks stare in disbelief. Tonks stammers "You said we are more alike than my people know."

"Ceirdwyn… Don't play with them. Show them what you did." Amanda scolds.

Grinning, Ceirdwyn lowers her hands and opens them so the witches and wizard can see the cup is actually supported by her thumb. Ginny squeals and claps. "Show me how."

Ceirdwyn explains "It is an illusion caused by creating expectations, controlling the viewing angle, and doing something unexpected. I put on a show about having to concentrate to create an expectation, held the cup where you could not see my thumb, and sticking my thumb through to create a way to hold it in a way that isn't expected."

Kyra whispers to Michelle "Deception is part of sword fighting as well…never believe what you see in combat."

Ceirdwyn hands the cup to Ginny and shows her how to act like she's gently letting go of it and causing it to levitate from power emanating from her hands. "You'll need to have your audience seated while you stand. You can't let them see down into the cup and see your thumb."

Ginny practices. Shortly afterwards Ceirdwyn notices each of the members of the wizarding world each secretly trying it themselves in curiosity when they think they weren't being watched.

Alex sidles up to Molly and nearly silently says "I haven't seen Ginny's wand…"

Molly quietly responds "She'll get one next year, assuming she gets her letter. Nothing magical has happened around her yet…but we don't think she's a squib."

"A squid?" Alex asks.

"Squib… A person born to a wizarding family that isn't magical."

"She's a witch." Alex says reassuringly.

"But…?"

"We know…"

"How…?"

"We know… How…is hard to explain. Why…is a theory."

"But…"

Alex moves to Ginny's side, takes her by her sides under her armpits, and lifts her up to adult eye height. "Witch or no witch?" she says holding her up to one after another.

Ceirdwyn reluctantly admits "Witch."

Amanda matter of factly says "Witch."

Michelle "I don't know… How can I tell?"

Alex challenges "What do you feel?"

"I feel… something." Michelle admits.

Kyra also reluctantly admits "Witch."

Tonks "We don't know…before…"

Arthur "We're watching for signs..."

Alex lowers Ginny to the floor then placing her hand on Ginny's head says. "Witch, and a powerful one." Ginny beams.

"How…?" Arthur stammers.

"Not for you to know." Ceirdwyn cautions.

"You've got the wrong plumbing Arty." Alex snorts.

"Huh?"

"You were born with stem and berries…" Alex says with a grin. "That may give you some privileges in some circles, but not this one."

Arthur is a bit upset, but suppresses it.

Ceirdwyn announces "We'd better get a move on."

"Wait. Ginny still needs a wand. They'll be expecting all of them to have one."

"I've got just the thing." Ceirdwyn says and makes a quick trip to her Land Rover. She returns with a dagger and gets down on one knee to address Ginny eye to eye. "It is more athame than wand, but it has a wooden sheath." Ceirdwyn holds up the sheath. "The blade is made of Damascus steel with a feather pattern. It has a through tang so it is strong. It is a tool which can be used as a weapon." Ceirdwyn holds up the knife. Ginny looks at it carefully appreciating its intricate pattern. Ceirdwyn puts the sheath on it.

"Can you bond the two together so it doesn't accidentally come off?" Ceirdwyn asks Molly.

"Epoximise" Molly says with a flourish of her wand.

Ceirdwyn checks and finds the sheath is firmly attached making something which resembles a wand and is safe for the youngster to handle.

"What are we going to take?" Alex asks.

"My Land Rover should fit five easily." Ceirdwyn responds.

Alex shakes her head. "Engine computer, three witches onboard… It won't make it back…"

"Take mine." Arthur suggests. Amanda chuckles.

"I'll drive." Alex volunteers eagerly.

"Your dangerous with four wheels on the ground and visible… I'll drive." Ceirdwyn volunteers.

"Shotgun" Ginny says loudly to Arthur's surprise.

"Gun?" Arthur asks.

"Front passenger seat." Ceirdwyn explains. "We're going to be tight. "You will fit best in the middle of the back."

Ginny pouts. "I can take her on my bike." Alex offers and Ginny grins and nods eagerly.

Ceirdwyn counters "I think the backseat would be much safer."

Ginny pouts. Tonks raises her hand cautiously.

Hermione and Adam get into his truck to return to Hogwarts. "You seem to have been accepted by the other students."

Hermione's anxiety is reaching a fever pitch. She nods. A week before she was innocently starting what nearly became her last mile. Her throat is tight. Her heart is pounding. She wants to be back at Hogwarts. She wants it to be over. She tells herself she is safe. She doesn't listen.

She expects the engine to start as she stares straight ahead. But it doesn't. She turns to look at Adam. He looks back and says "It's all right you know."

"I know…I'm safe."

Adam shakes his head. "I'm not safe?" Hermione stammers.

"It is all right to be afraid. It is all right to cry."

Hermione's eyes fill. "I don't want to…" But her lower lip widens and turns down. "I'm not a coward…" She chokes.

"No. But you are human. You don't have to be perfect. Let it go."

Hermione gasps for air a bit breaking the tight hold she has on herself. The dam breaks and she begins to sob. Adam reaches over and rubs her back. "I'm sorry" she whimpers. She shakes.

"Nothing to be sorry for."

Hermione gradually settles. "I'm glad you haven't woken up screaming since that one time." Adam says.

"I cast a spell around my bed every night so nobody can hear…"

Adam is stunned. "So, you're still having the dreams?" Hermione nods. "Soon… Soon, we will take you to a healing spring…"

"Like Lourdes?"

"No. This is secret…it heals the mind… When…what you saw happens… we absorb who the other one was…and all those that they took."

Hermione pales. "So, he is inside of you?"

"Yes…along with others… So, you see, my people sometimes need to… regain… control and reassert themselves. To my knowledge, no mortal has ever…gone through its healing. You can never tell anyone… You are strong. You will heal without it, but it will take more time."

"Will I forget?"

"No. But you will be able to resist your imagination taking you to the dark places."

Hermione is stunned. "Dark places?"

Adam nods. "There was terror in your screams…" Hermione is relieved. "…but also anger. Your dream isn't only about nearly being killed." It isn't a question, it is a statement.

Hermione's head goes down. "No" she admits nearly silently.

Adam gently says "In your dream, I think you do things you are ashamed of when you wake up."

Hermione nods. "How did you know?"

"You would not be human if you didn't. We are all a mixture. We have rage and compassion. It is natural to dream about attacking him."

Hermione says in shame. "It wasn't just him… It was you too."

"Me?"

"Yes" Hermione cringes.

Adam shrugs "All right. I guess I was part of it too."

"If it wasn't for your class, I wouldn't have been there."

Ron and Harry conspire over the remnants of lunch hours before. "You were in her bed?" Ron asks.

"Well she wasn't using it at the time and she wanted Neville and I to sleep while she went out to spy on the professors."

"I'll bet they found her right away."

"No. They found her footprints right outside their tent…close enough to listen to them talking…and she was there for a long time."

"Wow. I'll bet Snape was mad."

"He was Snape. Muggles say she's a witch. She isn't like us, but she does things I can't understand. Maybe it is because she's lived there so long that she just knows everything about it."

"How old is she?"

"About three thousand years old."

"Wicked"

"She was one of the ones from the book that you liked."

"Wicked. Did you see her sword?"

"I think we saw pretty much everything…"

Back at the Burrow, Alex Raven has already gotten Tonks into her leather jacket. Standing in front of Tonks, holding her helmet by the straps she pulls it in to the back of Tonks' neck and tips it over and down. With a smack on the top, Alex seats the helmet. "There you are… All safe."

"I don't wear all of this stuff when I fly on my broom."

The Old Ones freeze and stare. "You actually…fly on brooms?" Alex asks.

"Well not just any broom, but…yeah."

"Isn't that a bit hard on your…lady bits?" Ceirdwyn asks.

"I heard they put stuff on the broom, absorb it through their bits and just hallucinate that they fly." Amanda says.

"No. We actually fly. Drinking and flying…is a very bad idea. But it can be a bit rough on the bits. I've mostly given it up."

The Old Ones are amused by how casual the witches are about flying brooms.

Molly asks "I'll put some stew in a cauldron for the drive."

Alex throws a leg over her Harley Sportster, flips out the kick starter, jumps up and turns the engine over. The steady beat of the twin begins. "Purrs like a kitten. She may not rev high like a café racer, but she pulls like a tractor coming out of the hole…" Tonks looks blankly at her. "She's strong. Get on."

Tonks clambers awkwardly aboard. "Put your feet on the rear pegs…" Tonks cautiously takes one foot at a time from the ground and onto a peg. "Put your arms around me and snuggle in behind me as close as your… generous…endowments will allow." Tonks blushes. Alex reaches down takes Tonks behind her knees and draws her forward. "When I lean, you lean."

Ceirdwyn slides in behind the wheel of Arthur's car, takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly, and turns the ignition key. Ginny grins at her from the copilot's seat.

Arthur watches the group head for the road. Amanda clears her throat. "Arty… How about you and I hit the road? After we drop off Michelle… You and I can travel and acquire valuables." Arthur slowly shakes his head. "Well, you can't blame a girl for trying. We could have had fun."

Poppy completes preparing the elixir. She stores it in a vial sent by Jeanette as per the instructions which came with it. As she understands it, Alexa has a tube which feeds her and the elixir will be introduced into it because the patient is unable to swallow. Poppy appears calm, but she is edgy about visiting a muggle hospital.